Improvement in combined corn-planter and cultivator



, E. c.. GAGE. COMBJINED CORN-PLANTERA-ND CULTIV'AVTORI. No. 186,244.Patented Jan.16,1877.'

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N.PETER5. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. n (L U NITED STATES PATENTQFFIOE;

ELI CHAPMAN GAGE, or WITOKA, MINNESOTA.-

IMPROVEMENT IN COMBINED CORN-PLAN TER AND CULTIYATOR.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 186,244, dated January16, 1877; application filed October 23, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELI CHAPMAN GAGE, of Witoka, in the county of Winonaand State of Minnesota. haveinvented a new and useful Improvement inCombined Corn-Planter and Cultivator, of which the' following is aspecification: t

Figure 1 is a side view of my improved machine, one of the wheels beingremoved. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is toimprove the construction of thecorn-planter for which Letters Patent No. 146,060, were granted to meDecember 30, 1873, so as to make it more convenient in use, and moreeffective in opation.

The invention will first be described in connection with the drawing,and thenlpointed out in the claims.

A are the wheels. Bis the axle. O is a bar placed in front of the axleB, and connected with it by short bars. D arethe shafts, which areattached to the bar 0 and axle B, either or both. To the barOareattached downwardly-projecting arms or hangers E to the lower endsof which are pivoted the forward ends of the drag-bars G. Several holesare formed in the cross-bar O to receive the hangers E to enable them tobe adjusted wider apart or closer together, according to the requireddistance apart of the rows. The dragbars G are connected near their rearends by a cross-bar, H, to keep them in properirelative Several holesare formed in the position. cross-bar H to receive the connecting-bolts,

. so that the rear ends of the drag-bars G may be adjusted at the samedistanceapart as their 1 forward ends.

To the rear end of each of the drag-bars G is pivoted the middle part ofthe shank of a plow, I, for, opening a furrow to receive the seed, whichshanks are made hollow or open upon their rear sides to receive thelower ends 0f the spouts K, so that the seed may be conducted into thefurrows before said furrows To the sides of the lower parts of thespouts K are attached books k, which hook around flanges t" formed uponthe sides of the plowshanks I, so that the said plows may move up anddown upon said spouts freely, to accommodate themselves to the surfaceof the ground, and to enable them to be readily raised from and loweredto the ground. The upper ends of the spouts K are connected with andsupported from the bottom of the seed-hoppers M, in such positions as toreceive the seed from the dropping-slides N, which work upon the bottomsof the hoppers through holes in their sides. The parts of the slides N,that pass in and out of the hoppers M, have holes formed in them toreceive the seed, carry it out, and allow it to drop into the spouts K.As the slides N pass out of the hoppers M to drop the seed, they passbeneath a rubber pad or brush, B, attached to the side of the hoppers toprevent any more seed from being carried out by said slides than enoughto fill their holes, the said slides at the rear edges of the upper endsof the dropping-holes having inclined grooves formed in them to preventthe seed from being broken when pushed back by the pad or brush B. Thehoppers M are supported by standards 0, the lower ends of which aresecured in ,mortiss in the axle B. Several mortises may be formed in theaxle B to receive ,the ends of the standards 0, so that the hoppers maybe adjusted at-a distance apart corresponding with the distance apart ofthe openers I. The slides N are connected by detachable rods (3", hookedinto their adjacent ends so that they may be readily changed when thehoppers are adjusted wider apart or closer together. R is a springbar,the lower end of which is secured to the axle B, near the wheel A, andwhich passes through a hole or keeper formed in or at tached to theendof the dropping-slide N, so

that the said slide may be operated by the movements of the said springIt.

To the inner end of the hub of the wheel A, or to the inner side of saidwheel, is attached a gear-wheel, D, into the teeth of which mesh theteeth of a gear-wheel, E, pivoted to a'standard, F. The lower end of thestandard F is attached to the axle B.

To the inner side of the gear-wheel E are attached, or upon it areformed, one ormore inclines or cams, a, which, at each revolution of thesaid Wheel E, strike the springbar R and force it toward the hopper M,pushing the slide N inward to bring its droppingholes out of the hopperM, and over the spout K, to drop the seed. Th'eslides N are drawnoutward to bring their dropping-holes within the hoppers M, to againreceive seed, by the elasticity of the spring-bar B.

By this construction the gear-wheel Emay be detached and replaced by alarger or a smaller one when it is desired to drop the hills fartherapart or closer together.

G is a hook or catch pivoted or attached to the upper part of the hopperM, or to an arm attached to said hopper, to receive the upper end of thespring-bar R and hold it back from the inclines a, so that the machinemay be turned around and drawn from place to place without operating thedropping-slides N. H is a guard attached to the outer side of the hopperM, to prevent the spring-bar R from being pushed to the rearward by thefriction of the inclines a. U is the drivers seat, which is attached tothe support V, secured to the axle B. W is a lever attached to or formedupon the end of a shaft, X, which works in bearings in the support Vofthe drivers seat U. To the shaft X are attached arms or segments ofpulleys Z, to which are attached the ends of chains A, the other ends ofwhich areattached to the cross-bar H, so that by operating the lever Wthe openers I may be raised from the ground for convenience in turningand in passing from place to place. The lever W passes through a slotformed in, or a keeper attached to, the standard l, and is held in placeby teeth formed in, or attached to, the said standard. The lower end ofthe standard I is attached to the cross-bar O. The lever W may beoperated bythe driver with his foot. J are two plow-beams placed at theside of the dragbars G, and to the forward ends of which are attachedtwo straps, which are bent inward and then forward, and are pivoted tothe lower ends of the hangers E, attached to the cross-bar O. Thecoupling-straps are made of such a length as to bring the plows at aproper distance from each other and from the drag-bars G. To the rearends of the plow beams J are secured the upper ends of the shanks of theplows K in such a way that should the said plows strike an obstructionthey will swing back and prevent the machine from being broken. Theplows J K enable the machine to be used as a cultivator, and either withor without the seed-dropping device. L is a rod, one end of which isattached to the cross-bar H. The rod L is bent into Ue-form, passes overthe axle B, and to its other end is attached a cross-head, upon the armsof which the plows J K may be hung to support them away from the groundwhen turning and when passing from place to place. To the center of thecross-bar O is pivoted the end of a rod, M, by means of a bolt, pin,staple, or other fastening that will enable the said rod to be turned toeither side of the machine. The rod M is made of such a length that itsouter end may be directly over the row of hills last planted, when themachine is in position for planting the next row, so as to serve as agage to the driver in guiding the machine. To the outer end of the rod Mis pivoted the end of aerod, N, which is curved, and is made of such alength as to drag along the ground, and thus indicate more surely whenthe machine is in proper position. The draft-strain upon the rods M N issustained by hooks 0, attached to the shafts 1).

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1 1. The gear-wheel D, mounted on the hub of one ofthe driving-wheels A, and the gearwheel G, having inclines or cams a,and mounted on bar F, in combination with springbar, seed-slide, andelevated hopper, all substantially as shown and described, for thepurpose specified.

2. The bent rod L, provided with a crosshead upon its free end, incombination with the cross-bar H and the side plows J K, substantiallyas herein shown and described.

ELI CHAPMAN GAGE. Witnesses:

N. B. MENDER, JACOB STORY.

